(St. George, Utah - Feb. 14, 2026) - The Trailblazers moved into a first-place tie in the WAC on Saturday night extending their winning streak to six with a 70-65 victory over California Baptist at Burns Arena.
Utah Tech (16-11, 9-4 WAC), who also extended its home winning streak to five, was led by sophomore guard
Noah Bolanga with 18 points on 7-for-13 shooting from the field and went 4-for-6 from three-point range.
Senior forward
Ethan Potter notched his fifth double-double of the season finishing with 11 points & 11 rebounds and fellow senior
Dario Domingos was a force off the bench recording his third contest this season in double figures tallying 11 points in 11 minutes.
The Trailblazers shot 43.1 percent (25-58) from the field, 47.4 percent (9-19) from three-point range and 64.7 percent (11-17) from the free throw line.
California Baptist (19-7, 9-4 WAC) saw its nine-game winning streak come to an end despite a 29-point performance by WAC leading scorer Dominique Daniels Jr., who played all 40 minutes for the Lancers.
Jayden Jackson tallied 20 points, going 6-for-12 from three-point range, and Jonathan Griman added six points and a team-leading 15 rebounds.
How It Happened
A slow start to the first half saw the Lancers get out to an 8-4 start after the opening five-plus minutes.
A turnaround jumper by Bolanga ignited a 7-0 run for the Trailblazers to pull ahead 11-8.
CBU answered back with a 14-7 run to take a 22-18 lead, but three straight field goals from Bolanga, Samuel "Tobi" Ariyibi and Potter, respectively put UT up 24-22 with 2:17 to play in the first half.
The second of two three-pointers by
Britton Berrett in the final minute of the half put the Trailblazer up 27-25, but a triple by the Lancers' Jackson gave CBU a slim 28-27 lead at halftime.
Getting off to a hot start in the second half, the Trailblazers used an 11-3 run to take a 38-31 lead after a triple from the left side by Bolanga.
With the Trailblazers continuing to lead 51-49 halfway through the second half, a layup by Holt put the Trailblazers in front 57-54, but a 6-0 run for the Lancers put CBU in the lead, 60-57 with 5:35 to play.
UT answered right back with a 6-0 run of their own to re-gain a three-point advantage (63-60), but a three-pointer by Jackson tied the game at 63 with 2:24 remaining.
A triple by Bolanga broke the tie with two minutes to play and after the teams traded one free throw apiece, a layup by Potter extended the Trailblazers' lead to 69-64 going on to secure a five-point victory.
Numbers to Know
- The Trailblazers snapped their four-game skid against California Baptist earning their first win in over two years against the Lancers (85-78 victory on Feb. 10, 2024 in St. George).
- Utah Tech and California Baptist are now tied atop the WAC standings at 9-4 with each team having five games remaining in the regular season. Utah Valley is a half-game back at 8-4.
- In addition to leading CBU in field goal, three-point & free throw percentage, the Trailblazers also led in assists (16-8), bench points (21-2), points in the paint (24-14) and fast break points (3-0).
- Bolanga led the Trailblazers in scoring for the fourth time this season.
- The Trailblazers improve to 10-2 at home to match the most home wins in a season in the Division I era.
Up Next
The Trailblazers make their final trip to Texas as members of the WAC next week starting at UT Arlington (14-11, 6-7 WAC) on Thursday at 6 p.m. at College Park Center.
